Making “them” agileThe agile leadership mindset

Presenter: Nirmaljeet MalhotraPrincipal Consultant & Enterprise Agile Coach

Nirmaljeet.Malhotra@improving.com

www.nirmaljeet.com

Nirmaljeet Malhotra @mnirmaljeet

www.nirmaljeet.comNirmaljeet.Malhotra@improving.com

AgendaAgile values and principles

Scrum◦ Roles

◦ Artifacts

◦ Ceremonies

Kanban

XP

Collocated teams

Self organization

…..

Consultation

WeatherYosemite National Park

Lake TahoeSanta Monica

CA is great. You should visit

The plan

Must do..

The experience-Vision

-Explore

-MVP

-Inspect and adapt

-Fun

Agility is within..

Consumer Risk

AgileAgile◦ Characterized by quickness, lightness, and

ease of movement, nimble

◦ Mentally quick or alert: an agile method

Agile methodologies attempt to be ”adaptive” rather than “predictive”

Perception

Customer’s perception- Fixed scope, budget and time else it won’t happen

- The team understands exactly what needs to be delivered

- Each requirement is a must have

- Team will deliver exactly what is needed in X months

- Make claims real

Management’s perception

- Failure is not an option (Customer delight)

- If the commitment is to deliver in x months, the teamneeds to be done in x – y months

- I know exactly what it will take to get this done

- Team will not deliver if not micro managed

Team’s perception- They don’t understand how complex this is

- We know it’s going to be delayed

- Its easy to have a opinion

- They really do not need it this soon

- Requirements will change

- Estimates are estimates

Perceptions drive behaviors

Behaviors become habits

Obstacles to agile adoptionChange management

Organizational culture

Managerial support

Team education

External pressure

Management responsibilities

Adapt existing structures

Self organization

Self organization values

Self organizationCommitment

Respect

Focus

Openness

Courage

Trust

Engaged

Make failure safe

Alignment

Alignment is a practice,

not a state

Key to successful leadership is influence and not authority

- Kenneth Blanchard

Context – Trust ownership model

ApathyEnergy &

Innovation

Command & Control

Conflict

Trust

ControlLow High

Lead

ersh

ip &

Bu

sin

ess

Pro

cess

Team/Individual Ownership

Integrity as foundation

Teach and support agile principles

Trust people to make decisions

Metrics

Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I behave

--Eliyahu Goldratt

Images courtesy revtc.com

What do you like to measure?

Images courtesy agileSHERPA

Value

Motivation

BDD

Driven Development

Rolling funding model

Host leadership (McKergow and Bailey)

- - Inviter, inviting relevant people to join an idea

- - Initiator, providing the initial sparks of what might become a broader initiative

- - Space creator, thus creating an environment, physical and emotional

- - Gatekeeper, defining and protecting the space created. Allowing people in and out as necessary

- - Connector, by introducing people who otherwise might not connect, enable useful conversations

- - Co-participator – important part of the system, not just creator

Wrap up!

- Adapt existing structures

- Encourage self organization

- Trust and ownership

- Engage

- Make failure safe

- Motivate

- Measure what matters

- Continuous improvement

Are you a travel agent or a tour guide?

Thank you!